On Cats, Part 4: Enantiocats
A few weeks ago we moved away from our old neighborhood where I first saw Sawhorse Cat. However a few days ago my friend Walter
Read moreStereochemistry and Chirality
On Cats, Part 6: Stereocenters
Let’s recap what we’ve talked about so far. Sawhorse cat and Freaky Sawhorse cat are constitutional isocats. But Freaky Sawhorse Cat has a mirror image of
Read moreThe Single Swap Rule
I don’t think there are that many “tricks” to doing well in organic chemistry, but there are a few. I was kind of surprised last
Read moreIntroduction to Assigning (R) and (S): The Cahn-Ingold-Prelog Rules
This post was co-authored by Matt Pierce of Organic Chemistry Solutions. Ask Matt about scheduling an online tutoring session here. Previously on MOC we’ve described
Read moreDetermining R/S (2) – The Method of Dots
This post was co-authored with Matt Pierce of Organic Chemistry Solutions. Ask Matt about scheduling an online tutoring session here. In our first post on the Cahn-Ingold-Prelog (CIP)
Read moreTypes of Isomers: Constitutional Isomers, Stereoisomers, Enantiomers, and Diastereomers
Classification of Isomers Given that this is a long post, here’s a quick index. The concept of how molecules can be “related” Non-isomers versus isomers
Read moreEnantiomers vs Diastereomers vs The Same? Two Methods For Solving Problems
This post on how to solve “Enantiomers vs. Diastereomers vs. the Same?” problems (among other things) is a little long, so here’s a partial index.
Read moreAssigning R/S To Newman Projections (And Converting Newman To Line Diagrams)
This post was co-authored with Matt Pierce of Organic Chemistry Solutions. Ask Matt about scheduling an online tutoring session here. In two recent posts we discussed how
Read moreThe Meso Trap
Question: Are these molecules enantiomers, diastereomers, or the same? If you immediately recognized this as a molecule with an internal plane of symmetry (and thus
Read moreOptical Rotation, Optical Activity, and Specific Rotation
As the title suggests, today’s post is all about optical rotation, optical activity, and specific rotation. This post was co-authored with Matt Pierce of Organic Chemistry
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